\t\t\t\t\tSign up to see the future, today<\/p>\n
Can\u2019t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech<\/p>\n
The number of space launches has skyrocketed over the last few years, rapidly turning the Earth\u2019s atmosphere into a \u201ccrematorium\u201d for satellites and other space junk.<\/p>\n
Even now, it\u2019s a considerable danger for any spacecraft that dares to orbit the Earth in a cluttered environment. According to the European Space Agency, more than 60 years of space activity have resulted in over 56,000 tracked objects<\/a> in orbit. Roughly half of them<\/a>, as meticulously catalogued by the US Space Surveillance Network, are doomed to circle our planet in perpetuity.<\/p>\n Now, a Chinese reconnaissance satellite is making matters even worse. The country\u2019s Yaogan 50-02 satellite managed to reach its highly retrograde orbit at an altitude of around 590 miles, circling the Earth at an angle of 141 degrees, against the planet\u2019s rotation \u2014 a highly unusual orbit.<\/p>\n However, as Harvard astronomer and space tracking expert Jonathan McDowell noted on X<\/a>, the satellite disintegrated months later, resulting in 43 separate pieces of space debris being tracked by the US Space Force at orbits between 372 and 683 miles.<\/p>\n Thanks to its relatively high altitude, the pieces are likely to stay in orbit for a very, very long time.<\/p>\n \u201cThe higher the altitude, the longer the orbital debris will typically remain in Earth orbit,\u201d NASA explains on its website<\/a>. \u201cAt altitudes of [500 miles], the time for orbital decay is often measured in centuries. Above [621 miles], orbital debris will normally continue circling the Earth for a thousand years or more.\u201d<\/p>\n Officials have yet to announce what caused the Chinese satellite to break up. McDowell suggested<\/a> that it could\u2019ve been a \u201cbattery explosion or an impact by space debris.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a particularly precarious moment as the Earth\u2019s orbit continues to be filled with leftover rocket stages and satellite remnants. Researchers have warned for years<\/a> that a single severe collision between orbital debris could escalate into a cascading series of follow-up accidents, a phenomenon known as \u201cKessler syndrome.\u201d<\/p>\n